


Flex

by minhaaru



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe, Cat/Human Hybrids, F/M, Fantasy, Light Angst, Romance, Slice of Life, Supernatural Elements
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-20
Updated: 2017-11-25
Packaged: 2019-02-04 13:16:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,280
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12771861
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/minhaaru/pseuds/minhaaru
Summary: After a mischievous boy and his innocent friends get caught in an foolish act, the three protectors of the forest are cursed to a life of duality, losing their human form at day to live as cats.Once the strays find themselves biding their time in an animal shelter, they are brought home by three girls in a desperate attempt to cheer up the youngest.But the felines are not all they seem.Now, the girls are forced to share their space with Seungcheol, Soonyoung and Woozi, the three unfortunate spirits that find themselves bound to their dual nature. The arrangement seems to permanent, until they realise that the curse can be lifted...Once they have fulfilled their purpose.





	1. one

**Author's Note:**

> well, here we are, with my first seventeen story ever... that's fun >.< but jokes aside, I am super pumped to be writing this and sharing it with you guys! Hope you all like it <3

With a change in the season, came a time of hardship for the three young women that lived in the house by the edge of the forest, on the far outskirts of Seoul. As the leaves began to turn gold and brown, the days got windier and the sun shone less. The skies turned orange, purple and pink by half-five in the evening, and it was this time that Kai was making her way back home, her emerald scarf wrapped around her neck and mouth firmly.

She looked into the cardboard box, a misty sigh leaving her lips before they curved up into a small smile at the thought of Avie’s laugh of disbelief, which would then be followed by a laugh of joy.

This was a good idea…

Rue dragged herself into their small home, flopping down on the floor by the sofa as she began to take her shoes off. Avie glanced at her from her comic book, before looking back at the page. “Long day at work?”

The older girl simply nodded, as she pulled up onto the sofa and lied down with her head on Avie’s lap. “Yeah, tutoring looks so easy from a student’s perspective, not as much when you’re the one teaching though.”  
“I keep telling you guys, you both don’t have to make me finish high school. I can work and help out at home too.” Avie sighed, her fingers absentmindedly running through Rue’s hair.

“No way, kid. This is important for you too, you know? Besides, nothing’s too much when it’s for a good cause, yeah?”

Avie simply shook her head, looking away with a sigh. She didn’t like that Kai and Rue both had to forsake so much to get her through school, each working two jobs, but she did not say much of it, knowing they were both too stubborn to give up or stop their endeavour.

Even though Rue showed that she was confident, she was still filled with a lot of worry. There was only so much they could do, before even what they earned would not be enough. And there was no telling what they would do after that. They were always worrying about the money, even though talking about it was a rarity in this house.

The door opened, and Kai walked in, a big box in her hand and she smiled as she kicked the door shut with her feet.

“You’re late, that’s new.” Rue sat up, greeting her with a smile.  
“Well… I had to pick up a few things, that’s all.” She put the box on the table, looking at Avie. “You’ve had a shitty week. We’ve all had a shitty week. I thought this might cheer us up a little.”

Avie moved towards the box, looking at Kai hesitantly.

“Go on, open it.”

With ginger movements, Avie slowly opened the box, letting out a surprised yelp when a cat jumped out of the box, right into Avie’s arms.

“Oh my god.” Avie laughed slowly, her voice filled with disbelief as she stroked the small cat, his fur white except for the raven coloured patch on his eye. He had bright blue eyes like the sea and the sky, looking up at her, and the rest of his  surroundings curiously.

“A cat.” Rue whispered in an incredulous voice, looking at Kai slowly. “You brought home a cat.”  
“Um, well…” Kai let out a nervous laugh, and just then, two more cats peered out from the box, looking at Rue and each other.

“ _Three_ cats?!” Rue gasped, as one of them jumped out of the box and moved towards Kai. He was a shimmering coat of white, with grey stripes reminding them of a tiger and a brown patch on his stomach. He let out a small mew, looking at her expectantly.

“Yes… three.” Kai slowly bent down to scratch the cat behind his head. “I’m not a fan of cats but I have to admit, you’re pretty cute.”

As if the cat seemed to understand her perfectly, he jumped at Kai in affection, but the action startled her and she fell back onto the single-seater with a scream. Avie giggled as the cat mewed affectionately, licking her hand a couple of times before looking back at her.

“I take it back, I hate cats and I regret this. I’m gonna name you _Dumbass_.” Kai said bitterly, trying to push him away.

“Well, this… why would you bring home three cats?! We are barely getting by ourselves, how do we take care of three cats?” Rue threw her hands up in the air. “And you’re all enjoying this!”  
“Rue, you love cats more than any of us do.” Kai raised her brow, glaring at the younger girl as she gestured to Avie. The youngest had a small frown on her face, distracting herself with her new friend. “Besides, you need to relax. It’ll be alright. Okay?”

Rue glared back, telling Kai with a look that this discussion was not over yet. But, knowing that their poor accident-prone Avie, who had an especially accident-prone week, was really down in the dumps over the matter, she decided not to pursue the matter any further.

“I don’t want a cat.” Rue said with a pout, as she sat down next to Avie.

“I think your cat wants you, though.” Avie pointed at the orange tabby that was staring at Rue expectantly. His eyes were ash grey, specks of green in the middle around the pupil. Rue glared at the cat for a few moments, before letting out a sigh of resignation.

“Alright, then. Come here.” She nodded at the cat, who leaped at her and stood on her shoulder proudly, nuzzling his head against hers. Rue chuckled, as she said, “Hey, you’re pretty cute. I think I’ll call you Mango.”  
“Mango’s a cute name, I think I’ll call mine Pang.” Avie scratched the back of his neck; Pang nuzzled his head against her fingers in approval.

“Pang?” Kai looked at her curiously.  
“He’s got a black spot on his eye like a panda. And he’s so soft, he’s like fresh warm bread from the bakery in the mornings on the way to school.” Avie hugged him, a bright smile on her face. Rue and Kai shared a smile, before nodding in approval.

“I think that is a great name, Avie.”

“I don’t care what you think, I’m still calling you Dumbass.” Kai glared at her cat who was now on the coffee table, who simply moved his chest up and down as a paw moved to his mouth. Yes, the cat was _laughing_.

“What the fuck? Did you see that? The little shit is laughing at me, come here-” Kai lunged at him, but Dumbass moved out of the way, making Kai collide with the table instead.

“Cats don’t laugh, dumbass.” Rue snickered, helping the girl to her feet (she pushed her away, bitter about the cat and Rue turning on her like that).  

“Okay, I guess we’re gonna have to get some food for these little guys.” Avie stood up, picking up her cat and walking towards the kitchen. “I hope some normal food’s fine until we get some cat food?”  
“It should be okay.” Rue nodded. “These guys do need a bath tho, they’re stinky.”

The striped cat looked at Kai pleadingly, but the girl was only full of approval for the idea, hell bent on getting her revenge against the cat that mocked her, when she had brought him home and was ready to care for him.

“I am not ready to take care of this cat. Can I have yours, Rue?” Kai frowned as she also picked up her cat and began to walk towards the bathroom.  
“No fucking way, yours seems like a handful.” Rue snorted, scooping up Mango and following her. “You can keep _Dumbass_.”  
“I wasn’t joking, that’s exactly what I’m gonna name you.” Kai glared at her cat, who simply looked up at her and began to lick her arm. She started to relent, her expression unexpectedly softening as she scratched the back of his neck. “You’re a cute little shit though.”

Rue and Avie cooed at the sight. “Aw, look, you’re both friends already!”  
"Well, we're making progress." Kai stuck her tongue out. "Now, are we going to get these cats clean or what?"

* * *

"Okay, Avie, I cranked up the heat. Are you any warmer?" Rue asked as she peeked into the room. The eighteen year old's room was filled with little knick knacks she had collected from various places; the room was cluttered, desks filled with textbooks and notebooks on one end of the room, and an easel and art supplies in the other.  
  
"Wow, you could get lost in this room. So much stuff." Rue chuckled as she walked closer to the bed. Avie looked up from her book, glaring at the older girl.  
  
"It's not that much, you know. Besides, I like it. My room looks so cosy."  
"Yeah, I agree." Rue looked at the cat curled up in Avie's lap. She ran her fingers through Pang's velvet fur, before looking at the worried girl with a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry. They're not going anywhere, okay?" Rue said softly. "They need us, and we know we'll need their company when we don't have each other."

Avie looked at her friend worriedly. "B-But, we'll always have each other..."

Rue saw her face drop, and shook her head, pulling Avie into an awkward hug. "Of course we will, Avie, I was talking about if me or Kai went to another place on business or whatever, you know?"

She slowly nodded, smiling at Rue. "Oh, I guess I'd have to take care of Pang and Dumbass too."  
"I can't believe she actually called her cat _Dumbass_..." Rue shook her head. "Anyway, I ought to get to bed myself. Don't stay up too light, okay?"

Avie scoffed as Rue made her way to the door. "Yes, Dad. Good night."

Rue smiled back at Avie warmly, before she stepped out of the bedroom, closing the door behind her.

She said a quick good night to Kai as she walked past that bedroom,, before walking into her own. Mango had finished exploring her bedroom, and was now walking across her bed.

"Hey, you like the place?" Rue beamed as she put her hands on her waist, looking around proudly. Band posters and merchandise, as well as artwork adorned her walls. The room spoke to her personality strongly, just as cluttered as Avie's on most days.

She flopped down on the bed, head resting against the pillows as she sighed heavily. It was now that the need for physical contact, which had been so strong at this time of night, came to life once more, and it had always felt lonely in her room.

"Hey, Mango... I'm glad I have you, it gets lonely when we're all in bed and just... yeah." Rue had no idea why she was talking to her cat like he was a person, but she was scratching the back of Mango's ears and treating him like a friend.

Well, he was a friend now, and Rue felt so grateful to the cat, especially when he snuggled against her chest as if he seemed to understand her.

"You're a sweetheart." Rue whispered as she pulled the blankets on top of her. Mango mewed loudly, before he squeezed himself out from under the blanket and resumed his initial position against Rue, only this time on top of the blanket.

Rue found her fingers unconsciously stroking the cat's fur, the action helping her to fall into one of the peaceful slumbers of that week.

A few hours into the night, the girls were all in deep sleep; all but one. Avie was not asleep, the need to relieve herself forcing her awake and dragging her out of bed. She trudged to the bathroom, her steps slow and groggy as she thought about her cat and how she would take care of him.

Some time later, Avie walked out of the bathroom; she was slightly more awake now, her eyes no longer squinting and she was able to see clearer. So, even without her glasses, she was very much able to clearly make out a lump in the bed that looked far too big to be her cat.

Avie switched her light on, rubbing her eyes to clear her vision, and her jaw dropped and eyes widened as she realised what, or rather, who, was on her bed.

A young male, with pale skin and platinum hair, was sleeping in her bed. And the worst bit of it all was even though he was covered by the blanket, there wasn't a doubt in her mind that this man was _naked_.

She let out a bloodcurdling scream, one after another, backing up against the wall as she shouted for Kai and Rue to come to her aid.

The young male's eyes shot open, looking at the scene in shock; Avie was against the wall, screaming bloody murder as she looked at him. He looked down at himself, almost surprised himself that he was in her bed and stark naked.

Kai and Rue burst into the bedroom, hands brandishing hair dryers and craft scissors. "What's going on, are you okay?!"  
"No, I woke up next to him!" Avie pointed towards the stranger in her bed; Rue jumped, letting out a surprised shout and a string of curses.

"What the fuck? Is this a boyfriend you didn't tell us about, Avie?!" Rue gasped, ignoring the equally confused man as he tried to speak up and explain himself.

"No, Rue, she just said she just woke up next to him. Where the fuck did he come from, though?" Kai glared at him, equally unhappy that a man had just decided to break into their house and sleep next to their precious friend.

"I've got a good mind to call the police on you, you know." Rue growled, but was surprised to feel a hand on one of her shoulders, and a presence in between herself and Kai. The latter too was surprised when she felt someone touch her, slowly glancing back at the black haired man that was nearly embracing the two girls.

"What's going on, ladies? Surely all this screaming is because you've seen my handsome face, right?" The male winked at Kai, a shit-eating grin on his face.

Kai elbowed him in the stomach, causing him to double over and wheeze.

"Why the fuck are you naked? Why are the both of you in the nude and in the house of three women?!" Rue yelled, covering her eyes and the last bit of her purity with her hands. "For fuck's sake, at least get your clothes on!"  
"We don't have any with us right now." The man on Avie's bed spoke softly, looking at all of them with guilt. "And we're not here 'cause we broke into the house."

Avie looked away from the other naked man, nodding slowly. "How should we know what you're saying is true?"  
"Um, I, I can explain."

A third voice spoke up from outside the bedroom; Rue looked out into the hallway towards the third man, his hair a mixture of blond and pastel orange. The third man at least had the decency to cover himself, even if it was one of Rue's bed sheets wrapped around his waist.

"Explain what? How are you going to explain why there are three men, butt naked and one without the decency to cover himself up," Kai grumbled, glaring at the pretty yet cocky black haired man. "Why are these three men in our house, when we lock the doors and windows and sure we would have heard or known if you tried to break in."

The third man chuckled nervously, as he said, "Ah, well, you're not going to believe this, but...

Rue looked at everyone suspiciously, one arm holding Avie close. "Try us. It can't get any worse than three naked men in a house full of women."

The man chuckled nervously, before he looked at the three girls seriously. "We... we are your cats, ladies. We're the cats you brought home to care for today."


	2. two

“Um, what?” Avie looked around at her friends with a mixture of fear and incredulity. Rue held her closer, glaring at the three men.

“You three. At the sofa. Now.” She nodded at them to follow her. “You all have some explaining to do. And please, find something to wear.”

With that, she lead Avie and Kai out to the living room. All three of them were definitely uneasy and frightened, especially Avie. Rue rubbed her arm reassuringly, telling her it wasn't going to be anything to worry about.

“Look, Rue. I don't know about this. Why are we letting them explain themselves?” Kai whispered as Avie walked to the window to look out at the streets.

Rue sighed, shaking her head. “I don't know. The situation doesn't seem logical but for some reason… I don't feel like the blond one is lying.”

Kai raised her brows slowly, looking at her in disbelief. They ended the discussion when the three men trudged into the living room, thankfully having covered themselves.

The silver haired male, the shortest of the three, had wrapped himself around in Avie’s duvet. The black haired male had found a one of Kai’s long coats, giving her a smirk as he walked by which was returned with a look of absolute distaste. The blond male was tallest of the lot, and had a bearing of high importance. The girls observed this with the way the other two looked unto him, waiting for his command on their next action.

“Sit down.” Both him and Rue said at the same time. They looked at each other for a moment, before Rue nodded.

“Alright… Tell me who's who. You said you were our cats now turned human?”  
“We've always been human. Well, no, not really. We've always had human forms.” The blond haired male shrugged, before pointing to the man at the far end of the sofa. “This is Jihoon. He's Avie’s cat, Pang.”

“I'm Seungcheol, I belong to you. Mango.” He pointed to himself, when all of a sudden the man in between Seungcheol and Jihoon snorted, a hand on his mouth to stifle his laughter.

“And this,” Jihoon glared at him. “Kai’s cat. Soonyoung, who you've rightfully named _Dumbass_.”  
“Please. Call me Hoshi, it’s a better name for a cat.” He snickered, playfully winking at Kai. She rolled her eyes, crossing her arms across her chest.

“I don't know, you're still a dumbass to me.” She growled, before looking back at Rue.

“Okay. Dumbass, shut up. Seungcheol and Jihoon… Explain what's happening. If you are cat-turned-humans, surely there must be some kind of story.”

Seungcheol glanced at his friends, before clearing his throat. “We were cursed to this life.”   
“Cursed?” Avie piped up, looking at him curiously.

“Yeah, cursed. One of us thought it would be a real good idea to spy on a witch while she was bathing in the river.” Jihoon gave Soonyoung the dirtiest look he could manage. “But he also gave us away. And she cursed us to this life of duality.”

Rue looked at him, dumbfounded. “A witch.” She said slowly.

“Yes. A witch. She cursed us that we would live half the day as a cat, and roam the world as humans by night.” Seungcheol clarified, before looking at the stunned girls with an unreadable expression.

“Witches exist? What are you even basing this off?” Kai looked at them incredulously. “In my entire life living as a human, witches and wizards are only in stories!”  
“That's because humans aren't allowed to know of the other world. So they believe these are creatures of folk and mythology when they actually do exist. We're forest spirits ourselves. Only that we have a physical human form, we can touch and feel.”

The three girls looked at each other, and it was a while before Rue found her voice and stammered out, “Prove it. Prove that you're a forest spirit.”

Seungcheol, Soonyoung and Jihoon looked at each other, before nodding slowly.

“Do you have a dead or dying plant?”   
“Yeah, actually-” Avie bounded off towards what looked like the kitchen, before rushing back with a pot of dead chrysanthemum flowers.

“Will this do?” Seungcheol looked at Soonyoung, who slowly nodded as he took the pot from her. He placed the pot on the coffee table, his hands extended towards the plant.

There were a few moments of silence, while Soonyoung had his eyes closed and was muttering words without taking a breath.

_Julkhe Fr'ojha tras relk  
Ju’ah viridah hæd’ieh_

“What is he saying…” Avie found herself holding Kai’s hand as she looked at her nervously. The older girl could only shrug as she gave her a reassuring glance that nothing would happen to them, even though she wasn’t sure what could happen.

A few moments after the incantation had been repeated over and over, a light began to glow from his hand. The girls gasped, as gold shone down onto the plant, swirling around the browning flowers.

As if this wasn’t shocking enough, the plant was actually coming back to life, under the golden light, it lost its droop and regained the dark, healthy green colour and the flowers had their deep pink colour return to their petals.

“Wow. Okay, I guess you weren't lying.” Kai murmured slowly.   
“We just told you we were your cats and as far as that might be unbelievable, would we lie to you like that?”  
“You're not making a very strong argument. But okay, we believe you. We've seen enough, anyway.” Rue shook her head, waving Jihoon off with her hand. “Fucking hell.”

Avie cleared her throat, looking at the three men curiously.

“You just said… humans can't know of the other world. Your world.” She said quietly. Rue and Kai looked at her, before looking at each other.

“Very sharp, Avie. She's right. Why are you telling us all this when you said we aren't allowed to know?”

Seungcheol raised a brow, as he said matter-of-factly, “Because you're not human.”

\-----

Rue, Avie and Kai were all in their room later than night, all sharing Kai’s slightly larger bed as the men slept in one of the other bedrooms. After the turn of events that night, they were all in edge, and needed each other in close proximity to feel even remotely safe.

“What are they going to wear?” Avie asked slowly. Rue chuckled, before saying they she lent them an ex-boyfriend's clothes he never came back to take.

There was silence for a while, but it was not a comfortable one. And after a few moments, the youngest couldn't help but break the silence.

“Kai?” Avie, who was sandwiched between her and Rue in a protective embrace, looked at the eldest with fear in her eyes that could be seen in the light of the moon. Her voice wavered as she spoke, and Kai moved closer to give her comfort.

“What's wrong?”   
“No, it's just… There's a whole other world out there. A world that we might be a part of. We aren't human? How can it be?”

Kai frowned, shaking her head. She honestly had no clue herself. She also had no idea why Rue was so trusting of these three men, because they could very well be more dangerous than they let on.

"I don't know what they mean about us not being human. We've been pretty normal as far as I can remember." Kai murmured, unsure about their words but they bothered her more than she let on. "Rue... why are we letting them stay? What if they're not forest spirits, but something worse?"

Rue let out a worried hum, and the other two felt the bed shift as she turned on her back. "I know, it's possible they could just kill us."  
"Doesn't that worry you? And you're insistent that they still share the house with us?" Kai burst out, looking towards her silhouette. "Just- how could you risk our lives like that?"

Avie was trying to break up the argument, but the effort proved to be futile when Rue suddenly sat up, sighing angrily.

"I'm not going to have this discussion right now. You're not the only one that's worried, I am too. But- I don't know, haven't you always trusted my instinct more than logic? What's stopping you now?"

And with that, she got off the bed, storming out of the room. Avie called out to her weakly, but Rue showed no sign of returning.

"Let her be. She'll come back later." Kai sighed, knowing that it would be a while before they got some sleep that night, if any at all.

\-----

Seungcheol had always had good hearing, as did the rest of his tribe. It was what they relied on the most when they hunted, or when they were in possible danger. At times, he wished he didn’t have that ability, for he could clearly hear the argument transpiring in the other room, as well as Rue storming out of the room shortly after.

“Where are you going?” Soonyoung asked, glancing up at him as he walked to the door. Seungcheol glanced back at the male on the futon, before walking out without a word.

“Probably to comfort that girl. She’s going to start crying in a few moments and Seungcheol is too much of a sweetheart to just sit here and listen to it.” Jihoon said calmly, as he turned around to look at Soonyoung.

“Hey, since he’s gone, can I please share the bed with you? My back hurts.” Seungcheol heard the plea in Soonyoung’s voice, and sighed inwardly as he heard Jihoon relent and let him join him in bed.

_That idiot should be sleeping on the cold hard ground, I wouldn’t even give him a futon._

He walked to the living room, where Rue was sat on the sofa, hugging her knees as she looked out of the window.

She seemed to notice his presence, turning to look at him as she furiously rubbed her eyes. “Oh, um- hey.”   
“No luck sleeping?” Seungcheol asked softly, his hands in his pockets as he stood by the sofa. He knew she'd been crying, but he didn't say a word. He did not want to make her uncomfortable in her own house.

Rue shrugged, looking at him with a sad smile.

“I have my days where I don’t sleep at all.” She sighed, looking back at her knees as she hugged them tightly. Seungcheol decided to invite himself to sit down next to her, and after doing so without protest from her, he looked towards her.

“Hey. I’m sorry. I know us being here makes things difficult, and we can just leave.”   
“How did you get found by the shelter?” Rue asked quietly. “If you were in the forest when whatever happened.”   
“We were chased by wolves, so we ran to the outskirts of the forest where we knew we’d be safe. They can’t follow us outside the forest.” He began. “But, we were captured by the people at the shelter. Then Kai found us, and the rest is history.”

Rue nodded slowly, as she looked at him. “I don’t think you’re lying. I just know… somehow, that you’re all truthful.”   
“I know it’s weird, because you’ve lived believing you were human.” Seungcheol shrugged. “But if you knew about this world, you wouldn’t be so surprised when I do stuff like this-”

Holding his hand out, he brought forth a flickering white orb of light from his palms. Rue blinked, staring at the orb for a long while, before finally finding her voice.

“If we’re not human, then what are we?” She whispered, unsure of whether she wanted to hear the answer.

“I don’t know. I know you’re not human. You can see us. You’re talking to me right now.”   
“And no one else can? Other than your friends.”

“Humans cannot see people from the other world, unless it is willed by them. So if you were human, the only way we’d be having this conversation is if I allowed you to see me.” Seungcheol explained to the confused girl. “I didn’t will for you to see me, or the other girls to see Jihoon and Soonyoung. That only happens when you aren’t human.”

Would that explain the strange things Rue had seen growing up? Glowing eyes in bushes, the strong metallic smell that wafted off some people as they walked by, and then the weirdest; people bowing their heads to her and whispering in a foreign language that she couldn’t find traces of on the internet or in ancient books.

“Why can humans see me, if I’m not human and I’m a part of your world?”

Seungcheol thought hard for a minute, before he shrugged again. “I don’t know. If you didn’t know about being non-human, then it’s possible that it was suppressed for you to appear ‘human’.”  
“Sounds like the plot of some vampire anime.” Rue scoffed, before reaching out to touch the white orb that floated above his hand.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” He cast it up to the ceiling and let it float there. “It could knock you out.”   
“Could help me sleep tonight.” She stuck her tongue out at Seungcheol, before settling back into the sofa.

“That weird thing Soonyoung spoke when he brought the plant back to life.” Rue spoke up after a brief silence. “What does it mean?”   
“Unto you, _Fr’ojha_ , we call. Give life with your power. It’s a powerful incantation used by a different kind of forest spirit to bring something, or someone even, back to life.”

Rue slowly nodded, choosing not to think too much about it. “I’ve never heard that language before.”

“ _Fr’ojhelch_. It’s the language of the forest people. Spirits, dwellers, we all believe in the deity of _Fr’ojha_ to guide us and channel our energy into whatever we need it to manifest into.”   
“Frohleck?” Rue tried to pronounce the word, but it was a struggle, and Seungcheol just laughed.

“ _Fr’ojhelch_. Don’t worry, maybe we can teach you one day, once this curse is lifted.”

Rue smiled sadly, remembering that they were cursed to live half their lives as cats. “How will you lift the curse? You can’t live like this forever.”

Seungcheol sighed, shaking his head. “I don’t know. We have to find the witch and show we’re remorseful. But… we haven’t thought about it together. We haven’t been cursed for that long. Like, a few days only?”

Silence followed once more, as they allowed the words to sink in. Perhaps the situation was a lot more serious than Rue and the others realised.

“You don’t have to leave.” She said slowly. “I trust you. But be warned that betraying that trust won’t end well.”   
“We won’t. I won’t betray your trust.” He took her hand in his, giving it a gentle squeeze. Rue smiled, feeling surprisingly contented and less anxious than she had been in a long time.

“T-Thanks.” Rue whispered quietly, and with a smile, Seungcheol let go of her hand with a smile of his own, before he leaned back into the sofa.

“Oh, and Mango is a cute name for a cat.” He added with a grin, to which Rue blushed with embarrassment as she hid her face in her hands.

“God, this was so much easier when you three were cats.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> introducing our cats, Seungcheol, Soonyoung and Jihoon. The story doesn't pick up as quickly just yet, just establishing characters and setting? God i'm so bad at author notes lmao anyway I hope you like it~


End file.
